• Explain How The Following Items Individually And Collectively Affect The Overall Level Of Security

Problem 8.7

Explain how the following items individually and collectively affect the overall level of security by using as an authentication credential.

a. Length

Nowadays, there are a minimum of password length for typical users and administrators imposed by many computer systems in order to protect the privacy of users. In general, longer passwords will enhance the overall level of security. This is because password cracking by crackers will be very time-consuming or even not successful in cracking in case the users create and use the longer passwords. Thus, longer passwords will indicate a safer security measure because people are more likely to enter the passwords incorrectly. However, the drawback of using the longer passwords is many users tend to forget the passwords easily due to its length and there are many other types of passwords need to remember. For example, passwords of credit cards, ATM cards, company websites, Facebook, and others. Therefore, users need to consider its complexity while can easily remember in creating the longer passwords.

b.

Complexity requirements (which type of characters are required to be used: numbers, alphabetic, case-sensitivity of alphabetic, special symbols such as $ or !)

However, the users should not use the characters that are conventional and easily guessable in creating a longer password. For instance, “1234567890”, “qwertyuiop”, “password”, and so on. These kinds of password can be cracked in less time. Instead, the users are recommended to use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols to create a stronger password. The users can use a mixture of upper and lower case alphabetic, numerical and special symbols in creating passwords. In other words, long and complexity passwords are the main determinants of strong